Európai Gazdasági és Szociális Bizottság
The pandemic transformation is causing a significant shift in the global balance of power. The EU must act as soon as possible to boost Europe's economic resilience in the COVID-19 context and build its open strategic autonomy. This includes, among other elements, strengthening the international role of the euro, increasing the resilience of European financial market infrastructures, and improving the enforcement of EU sanctions.
Activities of organised crime organisations like money laundering and the tapping of public funds have consequences for the economy, business and society. A crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic may be an opportunity for organised crime to spread their activity, gain power and even innovate to find new ways to pursue their objectives.
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has proved to be an endurance test for human and social rights, democratic values, the rule of law and economic resilience in the EU. While navigating stormy waters, organised civil society is playing a key role in coping with the countless pandemic-related challenges at European, national, regional and local level.
In the process of building a more sustainable and resilient economy after the economic shock caused by COVID-19, it is crucially important to redirect investment flows. When making investment decisions, we have to increasingly take due account of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, alongside the calculations on financial returns.
In the framework of the work on the opinion "Tackling non-performing loans in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic', the ECO section decided to organise a hearing to discuss the action plan and to collect the views of various organisations on the topic.
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) played a central role in bringing the consensual views of organised civil society in the EU to the attention of policy-makers and contributing to the rapidly evolving economic policy response at European level.
In this regard, we believe that now is the time for the EU institutions to make decisive steps in approving swiftly the new Facility and putting in place the necessary implementation mechanisms at European and national level, so that the hardest hit Member States, citizens and businesses can benefit from the relevant EU funding when they need it most.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organised a public hearing on "The rule of law and its impact on economic growth" on Tuesday, 8 September 2020, from 2:30 p.m.
The event brought together a wide range of civil society organisations to discuss the economic importance of the rule of law and other fundamendal values of the EU, based on the findings and recommendations of an EESC own-initiative opinion.
CANCELLED / Round Table "Just Transition Fund: Transition Challenges from the de-lignitisation in Western Macedonia" organised on 30-31 March 2020 in the Region of Western Macedonia (Ptolemaida) in Greece.
Following the growing increase of the Covid-19 epidemic, the Committee has taken the exceptional decision to CANCEL all meetings and activities in Brussels and beyond, until 27 March 2020.
Therefore, this conference is CANCELLED.
The Committee regrets the inconveniences this decision may cause and thanks you for your understanding.
The EESC ECO Section is organizing a public hearing on "The collaborative economy - data exchange with tax authorities" to be held in Tallinn on 13 February 2020. This event contributes to the preparatory work for the opinion ECO-500.
The EESC is of the view that in the fast-paced development of the collaborative economy requires an update how tax related information exchange is organised. Furthermore, the need for transparency and reporting to authorities both from the businesses providing the platforms and from the consumers using them has been raised by governments. In particular, tax authorities are demanding that they gain access to information for taxation purposes.
